Thoughts on a Free Day
by Taa
Summary: Link looks for treasure. Navi ponders life. They both take a nap. Short and simple. Set in the early adult stage of Ocarina.


"Hya!"

Navi the fairy was suddenly distracted by the youthful cry of the seventeen-year-old boy behind her and she turned to look at him.

It was a warm day with a bright sun and a comfortable breeze—it was a shame, really, how days like this seemed so rare in Hyrule lately—so naturally, it was the perfect time to take a break from the building pressures of saving the world. It took little effort to talk Link into taking the opportunity to relax a bit after all the adventuring they'd been doing. The pixie had, since then, chosen to lazily chase butterflies while she coaxed her mind into forgetting all responsibilities. But now she ceased her carefree frolicking to gaze at the young man whom she had been spending so much of her time with these days.

Link was searching for discarded items in some of the thick plants that grew randomly throughout Hyrule Field. His favorite method was to stand in the middle of the bundle and use his sword, aided by a little fairy magic, to do a quick spin that sliced through the surrounding foliage, making for a clearer field of view. Navi was about to scold him on using his small source of magic unnecessarily, but decided against it, grinning instead as she watched the boy. He was so light-hearted and energetic; she couldn't help but smile. Sheathing his blade, he absently brushed away a lock of unruly blond hair from his sapphire eyes. The Hylian's face automatically lit up when he spotted his treasures: a few rupees and two arrows.

"Aha!" he said quietly to himself, pouncing on the arrows.

A characteristic giggle escaped the fairy's lips as she lowered herself to the soft grass, taking in the beautiful day and the hero's contagious gleeful mood. A flood of memories from the last few months reminded her of how much she loved the elfin teen, and she was quickly daydreaming of past occurrences.

The first thing that came to her mind was the day she met Link. At that time, he was only ten and living as one of the Kokiri children. The poor kid, plagued by nightmares for days, was tossing and turning in his bed when she first saw him. Of course, that would never do, so she woke him up. He was being summoned by the Great Deku Tree to meet his destiny, after all. She couldn't have him sleeping!

Although he awakened somewhat bothered, it only took some friendly teasing about being lazy to cheer him up. Yes, even beneath the dark cloud of evil bestowed on him, there was a jovial spark of light shining through the surface. She could see that from the very beginning.

He was strong, that one. And brave too. Everything the Hero of Time should be. Seven years in the Chamber of Sages couldn't affect him much as far as attitude went. Courage still reigned supreme in that soul. By the Goddesses, he was a determined little scamp. Of course, he wasn't really so little anymore. The body he now possessed was much bigger, more mature. She decided it suited him better. He'd had the mind and soul of a warrior before, and now he had the body to go with it.

Of course, with a bigger body came bigger challenges that a small child couldn't face. That was the reason Rauru kept him so long in the first place, wasn't it? Link needed to grow up a little before he could take on the temple beasts. And oh, what beasts they were! She remembered distinctly the forest temple; it was Link's first battle with Ganondorf, after all. But it wasn't so much the battle that stood out in her memory as it was the internal drama she could see played out in Link's eyes during that time. It was clearly emphasized in her mind, how she instinctively knew Link's feelings as he had to face his old home. Every expression that crossed his innocent face since then was permanently embedded in Navi's memory. The sadness of realizing none of his old friends recognized him, the surprise and happiness of learning his best friend was a sage—they were just as evident to her now when she looked into Link's face as they were then, when she felt the tension radiating off him. Even the sheer horror he went through in running the Master Sword through a mock of himself when batting Dark Link and the unforgotten trust he upheld with his Goron brothers were not unnoticed by the fairy. These two shared their feelings with a strong bond forged in destiny. It was a perfect understanding.

Then, there would always be the times when the fighting just became too unbearable to go on, it seemed. There was once a time, she recalled, when Link simply couldn't take it any more. It was earlier on, right after they'd been released from the Chamber of Sages. The sudden and drastic change in environment—from the bright, bubbling market of Hyrule to the ruined desolation of Ganon's dark epicenter—was quite a shock. The clouds above Death Mountain were angry and foreboding, surely indicating all was terribly wrong, and when they entered the marketplace, instead of the usual bustling activity, they found the city inhabited by the gruesome Redeads. There were six of them, she remembered, each one just as disturbing as the rest. It took a long while for Link to defeat them all and escape the city, though he did succeed.

Running from the castle town and stepping across the broken bridge into Hyrule Field, Link was apparently more shaken than Navi had originally perceived. It was an odd thing to watch what he did next, and it hurt the fairy to see. He got just as far as the road and stopped suddenly, surprising the tiny creature. Almost immediately, he dropped to his knees and began to simply weep. He seemed so out of character, nearly a grown man with a heavy shield on his back and a broad sword hanging from his hand, sitting there, crying like a little child. Navi recovered as best she could from her shock and guiltily, too late, she thought, went to sit on his shoulder, whispering comforting words into his ear as she watched the tears stream down his cheeks. It was the most depressing moment of her life, and she felt helpless and defeated, unable to comfort her friend. But the scene did end, and she would give anything not to have to go through it again.

Still, there were also the good times, like this. Times when all she could do was be happy to be alive. She loved these times. Link seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. He had a huge smile plastered across his face and his enormously giddy attitude was disproportionate for the tiny task.

_He makes it easy for himself to get excited_, she thought. _It's the subtle things that really matter, I suppose. Besides, it's good for him. With everything he has to go through, he needs to be able to enjoy the little things._

Once he had inspected the arrows, confirming their good condition, Link pocketed the rupees and, folding his arms behind his head, lied back against the grass and closed his eyes, still smiling genuinely. He took a deep breath and said off-handedly, "You know, Navi, life isn't really so bad."

Navi the fairy flew over to him and snuggled into the boy's chest to join him in a nap.

"No," she said. "No it's not."

She shared the hero's smile as they slowly drifted off to sleep.


End file.
